The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1887-04-21
THE DOCTORS IN COUNCIL.
THE STATE MEDICAL CONVEN.
TION MET IN CHARLOTTE.

LIE UUO1VhO In CUUNClL.
THE STATE MEDICAL CONvEN-
TION NET IN CHARLOTTE.
Everybody Likes the Doctors, and Will
Read With Interest What They Did
and Said.
CONDENSED from Charlotte Dailiesl
At 10 o'clock Wednesday, April 18th,
the State Medical Convention met in the
Opera House in Charlotte. The Conven-
tion was called to order by DR.. Geo. W.
Graham. Rev j. Y. Fair offered prayer
Mr. F. Brevard Mcdowell delivered the
address of welcome. 1t was bright-so
good that we make the following extracts:
l have been selected by the Charlotte
physicians to deliver you an address of
welcome. Why | was chosen, know not,
for l have been we'll so long and sick so
little, that I have actually been ashamed
to look Charlotte doctor square in the
face. But l recognize the fact that the
doctors will claim us all sooner or later
There are three things in this life we can
not escape: death, taxation and the doc
| tors. The doctors are with us at the
beginning and at the end of our days.
| They usher us into existence and when the
| jig of life is up-when the hard fight is
| fought and the sunset flickers on the wall,
| they stand by our sides and ease our pains.
1uc ullulSltE OItTS d SllcuI prayer, anu
| faith and charity, the two handmaidens
| that minister continually around the Mercy
Seat, cheer us with the hope that we shall
cross the dark flood and rest beneath the
| shadow of the further shore. An old
| woman's idea of a great man was one
''who was careful of his clothes, who could
read the scriptures without spelling the
words, who didn't drink spirits, and who
could eat cold dinner on wash day to
save the womenfolks trouble" Our idea
of hospitality, like hers of a great man, is
primitive, but it is genuine. We do not
stucco a man all over with conventional
etiquette. We simply tell the stranger we
are glad to see him, and we mean it.
Doctors are always welcome, especially
wnen they do not charge for their visits.
| Our homes, gentlemen, are open to you; We
invite you to share our board and partake
of our hospitalities; to drive around our
beautiful city and inspect the c'editable
progress and improvements; view the gold
mines around US; admire our peerless
women, and rejoice with us in the history
of liberty-lovng and progressive people,
and of a great and glor Gus ancestry.
Should | run wild with the love of our
favorite oratorical theme-should l mad
vertently speak of the Goth of May-of
the Mecklenburg Declaration of Indepen
dence: or mention the names of Nathaniel
Alexander, Dr. Ephriam Brevard, General
Graham and others too often, | will deem
it an especial favor if you do not bring
out your chestnut bells aud ring me down.
There are two things new under the sun,
a doctor who will take his own physic and
one who will prescribe for himself when
sick. They eyince the same abject fear
that the hangman did, in Barnaby Rudge,
when brought face to face with the gal
| lows, upon which he delighted to execute
so many others.
Considering the labor and learning of
the profession, think doctors are poorly
paid. When a man is taken with the
cramps he will cry, as did the distressed
| King Richard: "A kingdom, my kingdom
for a horse When hale and hearty he
will say IF the Lord will keep the doctors
humble we will keep them poor" Your
members appear over the world AS do the
waves upon the surface of the sea. They
are part and parcel of the waters and cover
the entire deep. Your influence is co ex-
tensve. your profession coeval with time
and history. To your ranks turn the
great, longing, yearning eyes of humanity
for deliverer; one who will lift them out
of the bodily bondage of ills, contagious
disease, and carry them safely through
the Red Sea of tribulation, and land them
into a peaceful and painless Inheritance.
Your calling is lofty and noble one.
He, who is the admiration of centuries,
healed the manned, the sick and the blind.
Barring the sacred ministry, none other
can so freely enter the innermost sanctu-
ary, approach the holy of holies and han
die the golden candlesticks of the altars.
You can lift the veil, touch the fringe and
almost kiss the hem of the robes of the
Great Physician on High
The border land where sanity ends and
insanity begins, is yours to traverse The
most sacred of all secrets of the family is
yours; you can look, but not with the eyes
of the world; you can enter the room, but
, must stand at the door like Stern's senti
mel angel, with finger upon the lip as a
seal that the outside shall never know
what happens within. Go on in your glo
rious work of iberating mankind and
Vestal Virgin, keep the alchemy of pro
gress bright and burning, and cease not
until science shall have gained her grand
her full, and her final triumph.
DIR. O'Hagan's Response.
DIR. c. j. O'Hagan, of Greenville, re
sponded in his usual style. He said:
''The Medical Society of the State O
North Carolina tenders to you its heartfelt
thanks for the hospitable and generoas
welcome which the people of Charlotte
through you, have extended to it. | would
|
spond in fitting terms to the handsom,
and generous things you have said. 1t il
not the first time that the Medical Societ,
| Of North Carolina has been the recipien
of the hospitality Of Charlotte, and whil'
you are pleased to bs somewhat humorous
n at our expense, still We rejoice that yo,
let us off so much lighter than did ou
nlustrious countryman, Zebulon B. Vance
on a former occasion. If my recollection
is correct, ghen we came here severa
years ago, with that inimitable name
and style which he alone possesses, h.
g placed at our disposal the property, tn
homes, and all other things. if in return
we would only spare your lives. If an!
doubts still exist among tls people o
Charlotte, l hope they will be expelled
We come here with no hostile intention
and we hope and expect to prolong, ant
make wiser and happier the liyes Of sh
}, men, women and children of Oharlott
and Mecklenburg county.
''Sir. you apologized for alluding to tn
great men this county was fortunat
enough to possess. Lo apology is neces
sary. We feel that we stand here ppol
historic ground, where the declaration o
independence, which was signed by tn
I. great men of this vicinity more than on
hundred years ago, was promulgated
which pledged the lives and honor 4ni
wealth of the people, and which was $
ia thfully carried out.
>, "Not alone in the seven years war O
the Revolution, crowned by success a
last, but at all times and nm all occasion
when it became necessary for the peopl